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Pitfall Master's Guide
The Art of the PM :: Chances are you’re playing Pitfalls and Penguins, the coolest new game ever, with a group of friends who’ve never played it either. This guide is designed to assist you in creating an experience that is hilarious as often as possible and creatively fulfilling for both you and your players. *Designed for fun :: When creating Pitfalls and Penguins, we tried to ensure that every addition to the game created new and interesting opportunities for fun. As you’ll be running the games you participate in, we charge you with working to ensure that fun trumps all else. The rules we’ve already written should ease this burden greatly, but don’t be afraid to bend or break them for the benefit of your players—you are in charge. *Players will play :: Removing the possibility of death ensures that players can be as bold or cautious as they enjoy. A few bad rolls won’t result in a lost character with months invested in it. As the PM, however, it’s up to you to be prepared to handle situations where the party wipes or attempts an unexpected course of action. This chapter will help you to respond in a fun and positive way to whatever the players throw at you, and to keep the players laughing and having a blast. *Shared narrative :: Great stories contain lively characters with conflicting desires. Your task as Pitfall Master will be to understand the desires of your players and their characters, and to create an environment in which those desires are humorously and challengingly opposed by others and the environment. This chapter will help you scale challenges with a difficulty that is interesting to players, but also fair. Set a playful mood *Light-hearted adventures :: The rules and mechanics of Pitfalls and Penguins are optimized for light-hearted adventures, and Chapter thirteen Pitfall Master’s Guide should be used to shepherd the players toward fun and excitement, not used to bar them from it. *Giving the players space :: If you create an immersive world, your players will want to explore it, which is a great compliment to your story-telling skills. You might expect them to solve a puzzle one way, but if they’re truly immersed, they may surprise you with hilarious resourcefulness. If you have plenty of time to prepare for your session, it may help to sketch out ideas in advance of what your players will see, hear, and experience if they veer off the expected path. *Sharing creative control :: To run a game properly, you can’t get too attached to your ideas. You may consider fall backs and branching paths, sure, but your players will likely decide to jump the rails sooner or later. If their characters need something that wasn’t part of your original plan or vision, reassess the scenario and determine how best to satisfy those needs without necessarily abandoning your original ideas. You may be able to reuse and re-contextualize the great ideas you already have in a new way. Running a session *Table control :: Some players lack the social aptitude or concern to appropriately handle situations in which they are unnecessarily slowing the game down or antagonizing other players to the point where the fun is gone from the game. As the Pitfall Master, it falls to you to make it clear to such players that their behavior is counter-productive and unacceptable. :: It is recommended you call for a fifteen minute break and ask the player in question to speak with you privately. Calmly and clearly explain what the player is doing to hurt others’ enjoyment of the game, but avoid anything that could be perceived as a personal attack. Hopefully, once the situation is explained from your point of view, the player will be responsive to your suggestions. If the player is unresponsive to such counseling after clear warnings, it is suggested that the player is not invited to return. Do not compromise your role as a story teller by treating this player’s character any differently than you do the others. Creating a good time *“No”, “Yes”, and “Eh, why not?” :: Players will have crazy ideas for crazy actions, and many of the rules will help you answer “no” or “yes” when appropriate. Understanding what makes sense and is fun, even when the rules don’t fully cover an action, is what differentiates an excellent Pitfall Master from a computer. :: When your players propose an interesting idea, always ask yourself, “Eh, why not?” If the idea contributes to the narrative and allows the players to express who their characters are through insane acts that are theoretically possible, ask them to roll a d20, and respond proportionally to the result. *An iron fist wrapped in a foam glove :: Define boundaries of what is and isn’t acceptable table etiquette collectively at the start of your first session. Enforce those rules rigidly, but politely. *Paying attention to your friends. :: Your friends are likely driven by chemical and neurological processes to act upon decisions made by their brains which they don’t fully control. One of them might be laughing at something on the Internet. Another might be yawning because he has not slept enough. The neurophysiological state of your players will be made evident through involuntary actions, and part of your job is to read those actions and respond accordingly by prompting your players to take breaks, put away their laptops, or grab a bite to eat. Presenting information *Using the senses :: You create the world for your players. You shape it around them, and report to them not only what they see, but what they perceive. When your players enter a new area, avoid only describing the visual experience, but also include the auditory experience, the olfactory experience, and the haptic experiences. :: Is the ground beneath them even or uneven? Dry, or swampy? Do they smell food wafting from nearby windows or the slow decay of abandoned livestock? Is the street full of noisy vendors and excited hagglers, or quiet locals queuing in bread lines waiting for state handouts of moldy bread? :: Consider also that when you want your players to search an area for clues, you must provide a parity of descriptiveness while reporting on each item in the area. If you describe only one item in detail while glossing over the characteristics of everything else around, your players will have no problem guessing that the only object they need to inspect is the one you spent time preparing a description of. *Using the NPCs :: The residents of a previously unvisited area may react to stimuli using information not already available to your adventuring party. These reactions may offer clues to social norms and taboos in this region, and hint at some of the larger problems that may be threatening this society. :: Use your imagination to empathize with the NPCs and create responses that excite and surprise your players. For example, if a town has been threatened by armed thugs extorting the peasants for a share of their crops, and your players’ party looks like a band of armed thugs, the townsfolk may run up to them unheralded and present them with baskets of food. Less pliant townsfolk may try to ambush the party on their way into town or poison them. *Using props :: Your voice is your primary means of communication with your players. Physical objects prepared in advance may augment your voice to create a more immersive and less annoying playing environment. For example, a map of a fairground or treasure map you’ve drawn in advance can save a lot of questions about what’s nearby and what direction to head. Additionally, if you’ve just returned from Mardi Gras, you can certainly imagine several types of cursed necklaces to distribute to your players. Being able to wear and play with something that represents an in-game object can improve immersion and physical hilarity. Planning an adventure *Determine objectives :: Each character will have different in-game motivations, but the adventuring party as a whole should be united by a shared primary objective. For example, if your players’ party is a rock band, they are united by a desire to play shows in different places and be paid for performing. If they are mercenaries, they are united by a desire to fulfill their mission and get paid. Getting paid is a recurring theme in many economies and should be taken into account when designing adventures. :: Individual characters may be motivated by different things, like artistic fulfillment, professional advancement, spiritual growth through hitting evil very hard, or the joy of adventure. Ensuring that these individual motivations are also teased and sometimes sated by your adventures is key to engaging all players in the narrative. *What NPCs Want :: The world is full of people, each with different motivations. Some motivations will be at odds with those of the party; some will be in harmony. The needs of NPCs often shape adventures, whether it’s a town leader hiring the party to solve a problem, a local warlord who fears the popularity of the party as a threat to his power, or just the man on the street who wants someone to hear him out on his problems with the local motorcycle gang. :: Intersecting party and NPC motivations is the core of a strong narrative. Take the time to understand both as you prepare your adventure, and your sessions will be smoother and more rewarding. Awarding Experience :: Figuring how to award XP is one of the hardest parts of being a Pitfall Master. Grant too little, and your players may get bored with the pace of the game; too much, and they don’t get much of a chance to enjoy their character’s growth. We recommend the following system, although it tends to lean toward the slower side of things at some points. :: First off, 500 XP is a solid baseline for a session. If you play 3-5 hours, this is a good reward, presuming things actually happen. Don’t give as much if the session was mostly out-of-game chatter, but in-character chatter counts as “something happening” here. If your sessions run longer than 5 hours, consider giving an additional 100 XP for each additional hour. :: In addition to the baseline, award additional XP for completing objectives. We suggest 500 XP for completing a major goal (such as learning where the bad guys are based) and 1000 XP for completing a story arc (by blowing that base up). We do not recommend counting the same event for both, unless that event was insanely complex. :: The players should also be awarded XP for overcoming the lesser challenges in their path. An easily overcome obstacle is generally worth 50 XP for each character. Moderate challenges are worth 100 XP, and difficult challenges are worth 250 XP. :: Assessing the difficulty of a challenge is a challenge in and of itself, but you’ll learn to recognize it after a few sessions. In general, if the PCs were in little to no danger, it’s an easy challenge, while greater danger leads to the moderate award. Difficult challenges are usually either difficult to pass with just rolling the dice or possess a threat of knocking the entire party out. Generally, if a party has to roll well or use a clever plan to succeed, the challenge was difficult; if their bonuses alone are enough to carry them through, it was an easy task. Dungeons Types of Dungeons :: The four basic dungeon types are defined by their current status. Many dungeons are variations on these basic types or combinations of more than one of them. Sometimes old dungeons are used again and again by different inhabitants for different purposes. *Ruined Structure :: Once occupied, this place is now abandoned (completely or in part) by its original creator or creators, and other creatures have wandered in. Many subterranean creatures look for abandoned underground constructions in which to make their lairs. Any traps that might exist have probably been set off, but wandering beasts might very well be common. *Occupied Structure :: This type of dungeon is still in use. Creatures (usually intelligent) live there, although they may not be the dungeon’s creators. An occupied structure might be a home, a fortress, a temple, an active mine, a prison, or a headquarters. This type of dungeon is less likely to have traps or wandering beasts, and more likely to have organized guards—both on watch and on patrol. Traps or wandering beasts that might be encountered are usually under the control of the occupants. Occupied structures have furnishings to suit the inhabitants, as well as decorations, supplies, and the ability for occupants to move around (doors they can open, hallways large enough for them to pass through, and so on). The inhabitants might have a communication system, and they almost certainly control an access to the outside. :: Some dungeons are partially occupied and partially empty or in ruins. In such cases, the occupants are typically not the original builders, but instead a group of intelligent creatures that have set up their base, lair, or fortification within an abandoned dungeon. *Safe Storage :: When people want to protect something, they might bury it underground. Whether the item they want to protect is a fabulous treasure, a forbidden artifact, or the dead body of an important figure, these valuable objects are placed within a dungeon and surrounded by barriers, traps, and guardians. :: The safe storage type of dungeon is the most likely to have traps but the least likely to have wandering beasts. This type of dungeon normally is built for function rather than appearance, but sometimes it has ornamentation in the form of statuary or painted walls. This is particularly true of the tombs of important people. :: Sometimes, however, a vault or a crypt is constructed to house living guardians. The problem with this strategy is that something must be done to keep the creatures alive between intrusion attempts. Magic is usually the best solution to provide food and water for these creatures. Even if there’s no way anything living can survive in a safe storage dungeon, certain monsters can still serve as guardians. Builders of vaults or tombs often place undead creatures or constructs, both of which have no need for sustenance or rest, to guard their dungeons. Magic traps can attack intruders by summoning monsters into the dungeon. These guardians also need no sustenance, since they appear only when they’re needed and disappear when their task is done. *Natural Cavern Complex :: Underground caves provide homes for all sorts of subterranean monsters. Created naturally and connected by a labyrinthine tunnel system, these caverns lack any sort of pattern, order, or decoration. With no intelligent force behind its construction, this type of dungeon is the least likely to have traps or even doors. :: Fungi of all sorts thrive in caves, sometimes growing in huge forests of mushrooms and puffballs. Subterranean predators prowl these forests, looking for those feeding upon the fungi. Some varieties of fungus give off a phosphorescent glow, providing a natural cavern complex with its own limited light source. In other areas, a unique magical effect can provide enough light for green plants to grow. :: Often, a natural cavern complex connects with another type of dungeon, the caves having been discovered when the manufactured dungeon was delved. A cavern complex can connect two otherwise unrelated dungeons, sometimes creating a strange mixed environment. A natural cavern complex joined with another dungeon often provides a route by which subterranean creatures find their way into a manufactured dungeon and populate it. Weather :: Sometimes weather can play an important role in an adventure. Random Weather :: Table: Random Weather is an appropriate weather table for general use and can be used as a basis for local weather tables. Terms on that table are defined as follows. *Calm: Wind speeds are light (0 to 10 mph). *Cold: Between 0° and 40° Fahrenheit during the day, 10 to 20 degrees colder at night. *Cold Snap: Lowers temperature by −10° F. *Downpour: Treat as rain (see Precipitation, below), but conceals as fog. Can create floods (see above). A downpour lasts for 2d4 hours. *Heat Wave: Raises temperature by +10° F. *Hot: Between 85° and 110° Fahrenheit during the day, 10 to 20 degrees colder at night. Moderate: Between 40° and 60° Fahrenheit during the day, 10 to 20 degrees colder at night. *Powerful Storm (Windstorm/Blizzard/Hurricane/Tornado): Wind speeds are over 50 mph (see Table: Wind Effects). In addition, blizzards are accompanied by heavy snow (1d3 feet), and hurricanes are accompanied by downpours (see above). Windstorms last for 1d6 hours. Blizzards last for 1d3 days. Hurricanes can last for up to a week, but their major impact on characters will come in a 24-to-48-hour period when the center of the storm moves through their area. Tornadoes are very short-lived (1d6×10 minutes), typically forming as part of a thunderstorm system. *Precipitation: Roll d% to determine whether the precipitation is fog (01–30), rain/snow (31–90), or sleet/hail (91–00). Snow and sleet occur only when the temperature is 30° Fahrenheit or below. Most precipitation lasts for 2d4 hours. By contrast, hail lasts for only 1d20 minutes but usually accompanies 1d4 hours of rain. *Storm (Duststorm/Snowstorm/Thunderstorm): Wind speeds are severe (30 to 50 mph) and visibility is cut by three-quarters. Storms last for 2d4–1 hours. See Storms, below, for more details. *Warm: Between 60° and 85° Fahrenheit during the day, 10 to 20 degrees colder at night. *Windy: Wind speeds are moderate to strong (10 to 30 mph); see Table: Wind Effects on the following page. Table: Random Weather Rain, Snow, Sleet, and Hail :: Bad weather frequently slows or halts travel and makes it virtually impossible to navigate from one spot to another. Torrential downpours and blizzards obscure vision as effectively as a dense fog. :: Most precipitation is rain, but in cold conditions it can manifest as snow, sleet, or hail. Precipitation of any kind followed by a cold snap in which the temperature dips from above freezing to 30° F or below may produce ice. *Rain :: Rain reduces visibility ranges by half, resulting in a −4 penalty on Awareness Checks for spotting and searching. It has the same effect on flames, ranged weapon attacks, and Awareness Checks as severe wind. *Snow :: Falling snow has the same effects on visibility, ranged weapon attacks, and skill checks as rain, and it costs 2 squares of movement to enter a snow-covered square. A day of snowfall leaves 1d6 inches of snow on the ground. *Heavy Snow :: Heavy snow has the same effects as normal snowfall, but also restricts visibility as fog does (see Fog, below). A day of heavy snow leaves 1d4 feet of snow on the ground, and it costs 4 squares of movement to enter a square covered with heavy snow. Heavy snow accompanied by strong or severe winds may result in snowdrifts 1d4×5 feet deep, especially in and around objects big enough to deflect the wind—a cabin or a large tent, for instance. There is a 10% chance that a heavy snowfall is accompanied by lightning (see Thunderstorm, below). Snow has the same effect on flames as moderate wind. *Sleet :: Essentially frozen rain, sleet has the same effect as rain while falling (except that its chance to extinguish protected flames is 75%) and the same effect as snow once on the ground. *Hail :: Hail does not reduce visibility, but the sound of falling hail makes Awareness Checks more difficult (–4 penalty). Sometimes (5% chance) hail can become large enough to deal 1 point of lethal damage (per storm) to anything in the open. Once on the ground, hail has the same effect on movement as snow. Storms :: The combined effects of precipitation (or dust) and wind that accompany all storms reduce visibility ranges by three quarters, imposing a −8 penalty on Awareness Checks. Storms make ranged weapon attacks impossible, except for those using siege weapons, which have a −4 penalty on attack rolls. They automatically extinguish candles, torches, and similar unprotected flames. They cause protected flames, such as those of lanterns, to dance wildly and have a 50% chance to extinguish these lights. See Table: Wind Effects for possible consequences to creatures caught outside without shelter during such a storm. Storms are divided into the following three types. *Duststorm (CR 3) :: These desert storms differ from other storms in that they have no precipitation. Instead, a duststorm blows fine grains of sand that obscure vision, smother unprotected flames, and can even choke protected flames (50% chance). Most duststorms are accompanied by severe winds and leave behind a deposit of 1d6 inches of sand. However, there is a 10% chance for a greater duststorm to be accompanied by windstorm-magnitude winds (see Table: Wind Effects). These greater duststorms deal 1d3 points of nonlethal damage each round to anyone caught out in the open without shelter and also pose a choking hazard (see Drowning—except that a character with a scarf or similar protection across her mouth and nose does not begin to choke until after a number of rounds equal to 10 × her Constitution score). Greater duststorms leave 2d3–1 feet of fine sand in their wake. *Snowstorm :: In addition to the wind and precipitation common to other storms, snowstorms leave 1d6 inches of snow on the ground afterward. *Thunderstorm :: In addition to wind and precipitation (usually rain, but sometimes also hail), thunderstorms are accompanied by lightning that can pose a hazard to characters without proper shelter (especially those in metal armor). As a rule of thumb, assume one bolt per minute for a 1-hour period at the center of the storm. Roll 1d10 to establish the number of d8 that will determine the electricity damage for each bolt. One in ten thunderstorms is accompanied by a tornado (see below). Powerful Storms :: Very high winds and torrential precipitation reduce visibility to zero, making Awareness Checks and all ranged weapon attacks impossible. Unprotected flames are automatically extinguished, and protected flames have a 75% chance of being doused. Creatures caught in the area must make a DC 20 Fortitude Save or face the effects based on the size of the creature (see Table: Wind Effects). Powerful storms are divided into the following four types. *Windstorm :: While accompanied by little or no precipitation, windstorms can cause considerable damage simply through the force of their wind. *Blizzard :: The combination of high winds, heavy snow (typically 1d3 feet), and bitter cold make blizzards deadly for all who are unprepared for them. *Hurricane :: In addition to very high winds and heavy rain, hurricanes are accompanied by floods. Most adventuring activity is impossible under such conditions. *Tornado :: One in ten thunderstorms is accompanied by a tornado. *Fog :: Whether in the form of a low-lying cloud or a mist rising from the ground, fog obscures all sight, including IR Vision and UV Vision, beyond 5 feet. Creatures 5 feet away have concealment (attacks by or against them have a 20% miss chance). Winds :: The wind can create a stinging spray of sand or dust, fan a large fire, heel over a small boat, and blow gases or vapors away. If powerful enough, it can even knock characters down (see Table: Wind Effects), interfere with ranged attacks, or impose penalties on some skill checks. *Light Wind :: A gentle breeze, having little or no game effect. *Moderate Wind :: A steady wind with a 50% chance of extinguishing small, unprotected flames, such as candles. *Strong Wind :: Gusts that automatically extinguish unprotected flames (candles, torches, and the like). Such gusts impose a −2 penalty on ranged attack rolls and on Awareness Checks to listen. *Severe Wind :: In addition to automatically extinguishing any unprotected flames, winds of this magnitude cause protected flames (such as those of lanterns) to dance wildly and have a 50% chance of extinguishing these lights. Ranged weapon attacks and Awareness Checks for listening are at a −4 penalty. This is the strongest velocity of wind produced by a Gust spell. *Windstorm :: Powerful enough to bring down branches if not whole trees, windstorms automatically extinguish unprotected flames and have a 75% chance of blowing out protected flames, such as those of lanterns. Ranged weapon attacks are impossible, and even siege weapons have a −4 penalty on attack rolls. Awareness Checks made to listen are at a −8 penalty due to the howling of the wind. *Hurricane-Force Wind :: All flames are extinguished. Ranged attacks are impossible (except with siege weapons, which have a −8 penalty on attack rolls). It is impossible to hear anything: all that the characters can hear is the roaring of the wind. Hurricane-force winds often fell trees. *Tornado (CR 10) :: All flames are extinguished. All ranged attacks are impossible (even with siege weapons), as is listening. Instead of being blown away (see Table: Wind Effects), characters in close proximity to a tornado who fail their Fortitude Saves are sucked toward the tornado. Those who come in contact with the actual funnel cloud are picked up and whirled around for 1d10 rounds, taking 6d6 points of damage per round, before being violently expelled (falling damage may apply). While a tornado’s rotational speed can be as great as 300 mph, the funnel itself moves forward at an average of 30 mph (roughly 250 feet per round). A tornado uproots trees, destroys buildings, and causes other similar forms of major destruction. Table: Wind Effects